Is the Tacoma enough truck?

[Clutch]

Advantage: city. Mine sees maybe 20% commuting and utility use now since I walk and can use my bike for cargo short of building materials. It's mostly used for going fun places and doing things. It sees plenty of pavement getting there but that's only because the reality of most roads, even secondary and back roads, are paved. I'm seriously considering going to a *more* aggressive tire next time not so much that I'm not happy with KO2 but that I want 255/85R16 so KM2, Coopers or something else is up next.

Trying to "retire" in 4 years. (which means work from home)...so until then. It is 15K/year of commuting. Which most likely will go up with the impending road construction. Do have a great alternative route that takes me on the back roads, but it adds 30 miles to my existing 30 mile commute. Find myself taking it a lot even recently...since I don't want to deal with the arsejackery on the interstate. Much rather smell the cow manure from the dairy farms on the country route.

Even with my trip today. I am not going to park too far off the main road. And just use the bike to get back into the good stuff. Tossed on my chainsaw rack and Giant Loop yesterday. Put the bag on to get some weight off my back this go around. Carrying the extra fuel, oil, chain and tools in my back pack is getting a little old. My recently healed broken collar bone isn't quite up to the task just yet.

Going back to the same area I was in the Spring...guessing it is going to have deadfall on it.

 

[phsycle]

Love driving my truck...what I hate is putting so many commuter miles on it, 'cause they don't make them like that anymore. Sure I could swap vehicles with her, but I know how she drives. Even if her round trip commute is 1.5 miles....

Pretty dang content here. Everything I want is right out the front door.

Leaving here shorty to be paddling on this lake in couple hours. Awfully nice not having to drive 14-15 hours to get to something like this when I lived in AZ. Now it is relatively short drive.

That is the thing, Toyota got too far away from its' roots...why so many are cross shopping now. For the price you can get more truck elsewhere pure and simple. Whether you need more truck is up to the buyer. But for the price why go with less of truck? yeah yeah we argue about size and trail worthiness..and all that, but how much time does your truck spend on the trail, vs. it does on pavement? I know mine is about 10%. Heck, I just gave in and put street tires on it. Gained 2 mpg in the process too...and man, does it ride nicer now. Wonder how much more I can gain by pulling the ARB bumper and Widernest off...

Like Dave said...waiting for Toyota to give us back a basic little truck for not too much coin disappeared...and while we were waiting the other manufactures caught up and surpassed them. They keep on selling them mostly based on internet lure. Even in this thread an others like it...majority of "new" Toyota buyers purchase them based on their reliability reputation, and not really on their specs. They'll put up with the flaws and pay through the nose because of the legend. While long time curmudgeon Toyota fans like myself are loosing faith in the brand. Lets face it, NA Toyota is a car company that sells trucks...and only 2 at that. While Ford is a truck company that sells cars, err well used too...




so yeah @phsycle, might as well join 'em instead of fighting 'em. After years of resistance, think I am over it. Doing a commute now...getting a little tired of the clutch in traffic. Be nice to have the option to be lazy. They are getting ready to widen a portion of the interstate again...going to be a traffic chitshow for the next couple years. And by the time they are done it will already be out dated.

My commute is only 6 miles so MPG and wear/tear isn’t really a factor. If I drove more than that, I’d still just have the truck but maybe a second set of commuter tires. But if you’re retiring in a few years, it doesn’t matter that much. That’s 60k miles.

Toyota’s product line has gone away from those cool mini trucks, but so has every other manufacturer. They’re a business and will produce what’s in demand. Short of a small % of market, no one will buy those mini pick ups. I wish Suzuki would bring over the Jimny here, but that’s not going to happen for that reason.

Cost wise, todays Tacoma is actually cheaper than when you bought yours, adjusting for inflation.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Cost wise, todays Tacoma is actually cheaper than when you bought yours, adjusting for inflation.

That's so true, I've looked at that a few times and it's more or less a push for same configurations. The thing is you actually do get more for your money in some ways now. My old '91 was an XtraCab DLX 4WD, which came with a 22R-E, 5 speed, 60/40 bench. It got power steering standard (and even that was only because it was 4WD) but that was about it. Even the base SR Tacoma gets bucket seats and A/C. Then there's the "improvements" that I'm not sure really are, noodle frame, electric shift t-case, et cetera, et cetera. That's what's ignored, that a $36k truck now would have been $22k in 1991 (and not $13k like mine was) and back then that was a lot of money, too. But it would have been a top-of-the-line SR5, V6, auto, tape deck, cruise control, sport bucket, 31" tire truck just like now is a TRD trim.

 

[Clutch]

My commute is only 6 miles so MPG and wear/tear isn’t really a factor. If I drove more than that, I’d still just have the truck but maybe a second set of commuter tires. But if you’re retiring in a few years, it doesn’t matter that much. That’s 60k miles.
Cost wise, todays Tacoma is actually cheaper than when you bought yours, adjusting for inflation.

I have three sets of wheels now, commuter, snow, and aggressive AT’s.

Sure if you adjust for inflation. I look at what you can get for the same amount of dollars. Base trucks are far from basic now. You can a nicely specced F150 or F250 for Tacoma dollars...

 

[tacollie]

Toyota has changed but so have people needs. The OP needs to tow heavy stuff so no Toyota ever was the answer. What has changed is used Toyota are stupid expensive but I think most used vehicles have gone up. My little brother recently sold a 97 7.3 F250 4wd with 324k miles, rusty fenders, Macco paint, and a failing tranny for $6500. My taco is similar to a 2000s half ton but new half tons have gotten huge and a lot of them have a lower payload than my Tacoma. I still like mid size trucks. They still seem easier to drive. I will admit the 6.2l in my last f350 work truck was beast. The truck was hard to drive empty though.

 

[Dalko43]

The Tacoma's, 4runner's and Landcruisers are kind of ridiculous on pricing.

You can find used Tundra's for a very decent price; mildly used 2015's can be found for as low as ~$25k-$27k, which is very good for how much truck you're getting.

Unless the OP absolutely needs a 3/4 ton, a Tundra would be the way to go IMHO. MPG's will be so-so, but with a 38 gallon fuel tank and some jerry cans in the bed, fuel range shouldn't be an issue.

Of all the Toyota 4x4's, I think Tundra's are currently the best bang for your buck.

 

[bkg]

Unless the OP absolutely needs a 3/4 ton, a Tundra would be the way to go IMHO.

You forgot the 70hp John Deere he needs/wants to tow...

 

[phsycle]

I have three sets of wheels now, commuter, snow, and aggressive AT’s.

Sure if you adjust for inflation. I look at what you can get for the same amount of dollars. Base trucks are far from basic now. You can a nicely specced F150 or F250 for Tacoma dollars...

But hasn’t that always been the case? You could always get F150’s for about the same price as Taco’s. Rangers seemed like you could get in cheaper (IIRC).

 

[phsycle]

Advantage: city. Mine sees maybe 20% commuting and utility use now since I walk and can use my bike for cargo short of building materials. It's mostly used for going fun places and doing things. It sees plenty of pavement getting there but that's only because the reality of most roads, even secondary and back roads, are paved. I'm seriously considering going to a *more* aggressive tire next time not so much that I'm not happy with KO2 but that I want 255/85R16 so KM2, Coopers or something else is up next.

I’d be interested to hear how you like those Cooper’s. I don’t want to go KM2’s due to snow traction. But ST Maxx would be a good tire.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I have three sets of wheels now, commuter, snow, and aggressive AT’s.

Sure if you adjust for inflation. I look at what you can get for the same amount of dollars. Base trucks are far from basic now. You can a nicely specced F150 or F250 for Tacoma dollars...

That has been true for a long time.

In 1991 an F150 4x4 Supercab 139" wheelbase with a 6.5' bed cost $15,430. That same year a Toyota V6 DLX spec XtraCab 4wd cost $15,218 and a Supercab Ranger 4wd was $14,071. I was wrong about the cost of the top spec. In 1991 a SR5 V6 XtraCab 4x4 automatic was $17,158.

In 1995 a Ranger XLT 4wd Supercab went for $18,509 and a Toyota SR5 4wd XtraCab V6 automatic was $21,218. The F150 4x4 Supercab Flareside was $19,144.

Why was Toyota able to ever sell pickups? Looks to me like they were pretty uncompetitively priced even back then.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I’d be interested to hear how you like those Cooper’s. I don’t want to go KM2’s due to snow traction. But ST Maxx would be a good tire.

I've been a BFG guys for a really long time, so it's gonna be hard not going KM2 (or KM3, not sure what it'll be by then), but the Coopers sure look more like what I need. I don't drive a lot of snowy roads with it (our Forester being what it is, which is awesome at that) but enough. Plus the KO2 really have been really very good for what I'm asked little tiny pizza cutters to do. So I'm still not sure I shouldn't go with whatever size is more appropriate in them, 265/75R16 or something?

 

[phsycle]

I've been a BFG guys for a really long time, so it's gonna be hard not going KM2 (or KM3, not sure what it'll be by then), but the Coopers sure look more like what I need. I don't drive a lot of snowy roads with it (our Forester being what it is, which is awesome at that) but enough. Plus the KO2 really have been really very good for what I'm asked little tiny pizza cutters to do. So I'm still not sure I shouldn't go with whatever size is more appropriate in them, 265/75R16 or something?

The size I’ll go to from stock is 265/75/16. I’ll probably stick with KO2’s like with my past trucks.

However, I’m wondering if I should look at 17” rims. Two reasons. One, there are equivalent size of 265/70/17’s, but they’re available in LR C, which I think is more appropriate for midsize trucks.
Two, I am liking this 255/75/17 size BFG has. It’s a half way between 32 and 33 tire, measuring just over 32” (32.1). Weight is 46lbs. I might look for 4Runner rims and go this route.

If your truck can take 15” rims, 33x10.5 is always an option as well.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I used to run 33x10.50, that fit fine with a little inner fender massaging. But the ship on 15" rim sailed for Tacoma. I'm not sure if 1st gen 4wd can still use them but 2nd gen definitely cannot. I dunno about 17", just seems like so little sidewall on reasonable sized tires. Shrug.

 

[Clutch]

That has been true for a long time.

In 1991 an F150 4x4 Supercab 139" wheelbase with a 6.5' bed cost $15,430. That same year a Toyota V6 DLX spec XtraCab 4wd cost $15,218 and a Supercab Ranger 4wd was $14,071. I was wrong about the cost of the top spec. In 1991 a SR5 V6 XtraCab 4x4 automatic was $17,158.

In 1995 a Ranger XLT 4wd Supercab went for $18,509 and a Toyota SR5 4wd XtraCab V6 automatic was $21,218. The F150 4x4 Supercab Flareside was $19,144.

Why was Toyota able to ever sell pickups? Looks to me like they were pretty uncompetitively priced even back then.

F150’s were POS back then. Now they aren’t. Hell I thought I paid too much for my Tacoma back then...but I just had to have one.


Ohhh...doesn’t really matter what gets you out there. As long as you get out there.

Doesn’t get much better than this fellas. Just got off the lake...now to find camp. ? Saw lots of FWC’s on the way up...couple Sportsmobiles...and 1 Alaskan...man an Alaskan sure would nice for tonight. Supposed to get down to 19 degrees. Brrrr...

 

[Clutch]

But hasn’t that always been the case? You could always get F150’s for about the same price as Taco’s. Rangers seemed like you could get in cheaper (IIRC).

Always thought Toyota’s were a little spendy. Think you might be misunderstanding me. Looking at all the options for what a new Tacoma cost. And there is a plethora out there. Before I wouldn’t even look at anything else, but a Toyota. As they say times have changed.